Pool Cue News and Review

Ok, if you didn’t get to see this article about Johnny Archer and Earl Strickland in the Wilamette Week paper, you seriously have to click over and read it.  This is some seriously funny stuff.  For those who don’t trust me (isn’t that just about everyone?) here are a few snips from the article:

“Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer breaks an eight-ball rack like he is having savage, powerful sex. I break a rack like your baby sister.”

“Strickland, 47, is not a good teacher. He reminds me of Will Ferrell’s film persona Ron Burgundy, if Burgundy played nine-ball.”

“I quickly realize I am dealing with a rare breed of human, a narcissist with an affinity for verbal abuse. My favorite one-liner of the day: ‘My cue is like a Cadillac and y’all are driving Volkswagens.” Turning to me, he adds, “Your cue isn’t worth 10 cents.’”

The closing quotes from the article are beyond priceless:

“Archer turns to me and says, “What is it with Portland women?” He is wearing a black T-shirt that says “The Scorpion” on the front and back, and he is drinking a Bud Light.

“What do you mean?” I say.

“Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind hefty women, but I would say 95 percent of the girls in this town have bellies that are too close to the dinner table.”

“Careful, motherfucker, he’s writing a story on you,” says Cantrill.

“Think I give a fuck? What’s he gonna say, ‘Johnny don’t like hefty women?’”

Johnny don’t like hefty women.”

Read the article at Wilamette Week

Oh Earl, I feel your pain.  In a recent interview with the Wilmington Star, Earl Strickland does what he does best: cry, cry, cry.  It seems that nobody’s inviting old Earl to their events anymore, so he’s moaning about being blackballed from the men’s circuit.  This is the same guy who blamed his sponsor Cuetec Cues for his sub-par performance (even though the same company sponsors the most dominant woman to ever play pro pool) and pretty much refuses to take responsibility for anything.

Call me unreasonable, but if I’m putting up dough for an event, the last person I want there is Earl.  Yes, I know he’s still one of the top pool players, but his antics are old and tired.  Temper tantrums went out in the 80’s with Johnny Mac and they weren’t even that entertaining back then.  Sure, the train wreck is impossible to look away from, but does an event host or sponsor really want or need the “theatrics” that come with the so-called “pearl”?

The best part of the article though?  Its gotta be when Strickland lets his humility shine through with the following quote: “No living, breathing, soul on earth, no human being can play me on a four-inch pocket. … There’s only 10 people in the world that can really play this game. The rest are hitting the rails.”

And he wonders why no one will invite him up to their treehouse…

Well, it only took 16 years, but Cuetec has finally fired BCA Hall of Fame Member Earl Strickland. Strickland endorsed Cuetec cues from 1990 through January 2007 but with the sale of J-S Sales (Cuetec’s parent company) to Imperial USA, that relationship came to a grinding halt.

It seems that the new owners of Cuetec didn’t want pool’s version of John McEnroe attached to their cue line. As far as I’m concerned, this should have happened years ago. Strickland is a continuing stain on the game of pool. His antics are childish and more importantly, completely played out. It was entertaining at first, but after seeing “the pearl” throw a tantrum at every event, the act grew real old real fast. He clearly has no respect for the game, the industry or the players.

Strickland, never known to take responsibility for anything, continued his impressive run of being a horse’s ass by blaming the fact that he can’t win anymore on Cuetec. “If they [Cuetec] made a better cue, I’d still be winning. But I was handicapped with that cue.” He then went so far as to compare himself to Tiger Woods. “J-S sent me an invoice for $3,000 for stuff I got from them. You think Tiger Woods would ever get an invoice from Target?” Well Earl, maybe the difference between you and Tiger is that Tiger is a consistent winner who isn’t an embarrassment to his sponsors and the game he plays. You might also consider the fact that golf has a slightly bigger audience than 9 Ball.

Meanwhile, the quality of Cuetec cues doesn’t seem to be bothering pool’s real version of Tiger Woods: The Dutchess of Doom, Allison Fisher. She once again took home a truckload of Player of the Year honors and is still the most consistent pool player in the business. All that with a cue that was a “handicap” according to Strickland. As they say, it’s a poor carpenter that blames his tools, especially when someone builds a mansion with the same tools you used to create the crapshack you’ve turned your career into.

Hasta La Vista Earl. Here’s to hoping that no cuemaker is ever foolish or desperate enough to sign you up as a sponsor.

(Footnote: Earl’s quotes were originally seen in the March 2007 issue of Billiards Digest Magazine).